Googie Withers

Georgette Lizette "Googie" WithersCBE, AO (12 March 1917–15 July 2011) was a British entertainer who had a lengthy career in theatre, film, and television. She was a longtime resident of Australia with her husband, the actor John McCallum, with whom she often appeared. She was a well-known actress during the war and post-war years.

Biography

Withers was born in Karachi, in British India (now in Pakistan) to Edgar Withers, a captain in the Royal Navy, and a Dutch-German mother, Zitette. She acquired the name "Googie" (Little Pigeon) at a young age from her ayah (nanny). As a child, she learned Urdu. Her father left the Royal Navy to manage a foundry in Birmingham, England, and Googie was sent to a boarding school near Dover. She began acting at the age of twelve. A student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, she was a dancer in a West End production when she was offered work as a film extra in Michael Powell's The Girl in the Crowd (1935). She arrived on the set to find one of the major players in the production had been dismissed, and she was immediately asked to step into the role in her place.

Googie Withers

Georgette Lizette "Googie" WithersCBE, AO (12 March 1917–15 July 2011) was a British entertainer who had a lengthy career in theatre, film, and television. She was a longtime resident of Australia with her husband, the actor John McCallum, with whom she often appeared. She was a well-known actress during the war and post-war years.

Biography

Withers was born in Karachi, in British India (now in Pakistan) to Edgar Withers, a captain in the Royal Navy, and a Dutch-German mother, Zitette. She acquired the name "Googie" (Little Pigeon) at a young age from her ayah (nanny). As a child, she learned Urdu. Her father left the Royal Navy to manage a foundry in Birmingham, England, and Googie was sent to a boarding school near Dover. She began acting at the age of twelve. A student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, she was a dancer in a West End production when she was offered work as a film extra in Michael Powell's The Girl in the Crowd (1935). She arrived on the set to find one of the major players in the production had been dismissed, and she was immediately asked to step into the role in her place.

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I watched film noir before I knew it had a name, growing up with these black-and-white B-movies that appeared at odd hours on 70s television ... the cinema of the city, steeped in the city’s fascination and fear ... Out of the Past (1947) dir ... It co-stars the fabulous Gene Tierney and has a first-rate British cast, including GoogieWithers and Herbert Lom....